FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT NOMINATION - PAGE 3

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that he would not support the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker for EU Commission president. Orban said Juncker would probably be elected with an overwhelming majority. Juncker's nomination will be discussed on the second day of an EU summit, which began on Thursday. "I will not support this decision," Orban told public radio in an interview. Orban reiterated that Budapest rejected any "sneaking" changes to the EU's treaty, referring to the selection process for picking the EU Commission's new president.

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to announce his nomination of White House chief of staff and budget expert Jack Lew as his next Treasury secretary on Thursday at an event at 1:30 p.m. ET (1330 GMT), a White House official said. Lew, 57, will take the lead on difficult negotiations with Congress on how to cut the nation's looming debt and rein in spending - a central challenge for Obama's second term. Lew is expected to be confirmed by the Senate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Senate Environment Committee on Friday rescheduled a vote on President Barack's Obama's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, and urged Republicans to stop stalling the nomination. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, who heads the committee, rescheduled for next Thursday what may be a party-line vote after Republicans boycotted a meeting scheduled this week. Boxer said McCarthy was highly qualified for the job, and told the top Republican on the committee that it was time to move forward on her nomination after four weeks of delays.

April 26 (Reuters) - Zdeno Chara's strong two-way play that helped the Boston Bruins win a division title, earned the Slovakian a nomination for the Norris Trophy given to the top defenseman, the National Hockey League (NHL) said on Thursday. Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators were also named finalists for the trophy, which will be presented June 20 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Chara, a five-time finalist who captured the award in 2009, led all defensemen and tied for third in the NHL with a plus-33 rating and was fourth among fellow blueliners in scoring with a career-high 52 points.

State Rep. Darlene Senger declared victory in a crowded GOP primary field Tuesday night and will take on freshman Democrat U.S. Rep. Bill Foster in the southwest and south suburban 11th Congressional District. Senger had 37 percent of the vote to 32 percent for Grundy County Board member Chris Balkema and 26 percent for businessman Bert Miller, with 95 percent of precincts reporting unofficial results late Tuesday. The remaining votes were split by radio talk show host Ian Bayne and Craig Robbins, whose name remained on the ballot after he dropped out of the race.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German town where Martin Luther helped inspire the Protestant Reformation five centuries ago has drawn accusations of honoring blasphemy for nominating Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot for a freedom of speech prize. Politicians in Lutherstadt Wittenberg have recommended Pussy Riot for the national "Fearless Word" prize in honor of Luther, a monk excommunicated and outlawed after nailing 95 theses to a church door in 1517 and criticizing the mighty Catholic Church.

Mitt Romney's victory in the Texas primary on Tuesday gives him enough delegates to capture the Republican presidential nomination, but he remains some distance from recovering from the damage caused by months of tussling with rivals in his own party. As Texans cast their ballots, Romney was campaigning in two swing states -- Nevada and Colorado -- that attest to the consequences of the nomination battle. Both states are home to large populations of Latinos. But Romney's conservative positioning on immigration during the primaries has helped to spike his unpopularity among Latinos.

* Blues' Armstrong, Predators' Poile among other finalists * Pacioretty, Alfredsson and Lupul named Masterton nominees April 24 (Reuters) - Dale Tallon's overhaul of the Florida Panthers' roster, which led to the team's first division title, earned him a nomination for the General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League (NHL) said on Tuesday. Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues and David Poile of the Nashville Predators were the other two finalists for the award, which will be presented June 20 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

With more than half the states now having voted, a clear pattern has emerged in the Republican race for president: Mitt Romney seems to be on a slow, steady march to the party's nomination. And large numbers of Republicans are not happy about that -- or least not yet willing to resign themselves to the prospect. The results Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi, twin victories for Rick Santorum, were not unexpected, though polling gave Romney hope and the incentive to make a late play for at least one upset (which only served to make Santorum's victories all the more notable)